Hybrid outfit head south

After a momentous year in which they received an ARIA nomination and toured the US, Fremantle band Koi Child will be bringing their infectious and energetic shows to the South West.

The Times spoke to bass player Yann Vissac ahead of their string of shows across the South West, which start next weekend.

Three years ago, two bands combined to make up the group after a shared performance, which also earned them the praise of Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker.

“We were initially playing in groups of our own — one four-piece and a three-piece — and there aren’t a whole lot of bands making hip-hop music and so we decided we should put a show on together,” Vissac said.

“We got on stage for a big collective jam and ultimately that became the band.”

Vissac said the group’s music was very broad and included influences from a range of genres.

“It has a lot of rock influences; we call it hip hop but it is probably closer to pop with a bit of jazz influences in there too,” he said.

After that first performance, Vissac said Parker, who was in the audience, approached the band and offered some praise for what they were doing.

“We ended up hanging out with him that night and then he gave us the initial offer to support Tame Impala at a show on Rottnest,” he said.

“At that point, we didn’t even have a band name so we had to think of one and then create some social media accounts to get our name out there.”

A few weeks later, the newly formed group recorded their first single, with Parker then offering to produce their album.

“We worked on the album for the better part of a year and then went down south to a fishing shack in South Yunderup to record it,” Vissac said.

“We took all of this recording equipment but we had to cross over a river with it because the shack was on an island; we used mattresses as sound-proofing during the day and then we would take them down and sleep on them.”

Vissac said the process of making the album after their initial success was very daunting.

“The pressure was on from the beginning to follow up everything that was going on,” he said.

However, they needn’t have worried, with the release of the album in March last year leading to extensive worldwide radio play and an ARIA nomination for best urban record, as well as playing at St Jerome’s Laneway Festival across the country and, most recently, a tour of the US, which included the South by South West festival.

Vissac said the band were working on writing some new material and were excited to return to the region to perform.

Koi Child will perform at The Firestation on April 28 and May 13 (free entry) and Clancy’s Fish Pub on April 29 (tickets $18.40 via http://clancys fishpub.oztix. com.au).